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| Criterion |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Knowledge Modeling IBIS |  Growth A/B Testing |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When work processes are known only from accounts and the real context stays hidden, Contextual Inquiry makes behavior at the workplace visible. Observation and follow-up questions together show how people actually work, get interrupted, and improvise. | IBIS structures thinking about complex questions as a sequence of issues, ideas, and arguments. The method keeps discussions open without forcing them into premature consensus. | When two variants compete, discussions quickly decide by taste rather than effect. A/B Testing checks behavior under controlled conditions and separates real improvement from chance or expectation effects. | When demand only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 1-3 h | 1-4 Wochen | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 2-8 | 1-6 | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Issue Map, Positions, Argument Notes | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | RationaleKnowledgeDecision | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth |